It isn’t difficult for the public to see how the Cabinet reshuffle by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Tuesday can be assumed as a strategic move for him to continue to stay in power and silence his critics.

The game of perception doesn’t seem to be a top priority in Malaysian politics these days (yeah… it’s always about perception of honesty, sincerity and transparency, isn’t it?). I guess it doesn’t matter what the public thinks.

But the issue of the day hasn’t changed and that is the questions and allegations surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. What has changed is the influential people who have been critically vocal about it being dropped from their influential positions.

Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has been removed from his post as the attorney-general. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who have been very critical about 1MDB, are no longer in cabinet.

Muhyiddin had given a press conference on Wednesday morning. But it was a tame affair and he stressed that he was still an Umno member and will toe the party line when the time comes. No news from Shafie.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who was the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigating the allegations of 1MDB, has been made deputy home minister. He has stepped down from his position as PAC chief.

The funny thing is that Nur Jazlan had, a few weeks earlier, been asked by reporters of his thoughts of the rumours speculating that he will be called up and appointed as a member of the cabinet.

Nur Jazlan was reported to have said that he was more interested in finishing the committee’s investigation of 1MDB rather than entertaining the thought of being appointed to a Cabinet position. He wanted to prove his ability as chairperson.

Oh well, flip-flopping and non-committal tendencies are rife in politics. There’s nothing you can do about that (again the perception game comes to mind). The question now is how will the investigation on 1MDB progress from here?

Now that Nur Jazlan has relinquished his post in the PAC, he has also announced that all further proceedings by the committee will be halted until a new line-up is announced at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Sure, vice-chair of the PAC, Tony Pua, has said that technically, the committee can and will continue with its investigations. He has been vocal all this while. But look what happened to him. He is barred from leaving the country.

The media’s role? Let’s see. The Edge was the one that sparked widespread interest in the 1MDB scandal, and they have been suspended from publication for three months, a decision that could be an intimidating factor for other media organisations.

It looks like all the stops are being pulled. Every game in the playbook is being used. Everything that can be done to stop any further delving into what happened to 1MDB is being done. So is this the end of the line.

When my daughter Athena was around three years old, she was a very feisty little girl. We used to tease her a lot and make fun of her. And of course she would get angry at us.

For example, right after she takes a bath, I would call for her and when she came, I would take a big sniff of her hair or neck and say, “Eiii! You’re so smelly! Are you sure you took a bath?”

She would scream in annoyance and anger, “No pops! I’m not smelly! I smell nice!”. And I would burst out in laughter why she starts stomping her feet because she doesn’t know how to argue.

But now that she’s four and half, closing in to five years old, she’s started to develop some clever wit and a sense of humour. She has started playing jokes and teasing me now.

She would come up to me right after her bath and ask me, “Hey pops. Come and smell me. Do I smell busuk or smelly?”. When she first said that to me, I was stunned and it took me a while to get it.

And when she saw my stunned face, she just burst out in laughter! And when I got the joke, I burst out laughing too. Then both of us would be rolling on the floor hysterically. She is my daughter indeed!

It’s just how we Azlees roll. I tease you and you tease me. We laugh together and everyone has a really good time because we don’t take things too seriously and we’re all a big happy bunch.

Of course we aren’t making fun of really serious matters like, say, the 1MDB scandal. But the point is that Athena is only four years old and she understands what a sense of humour is all about.

So I totally can’t understand why the government would threaten those who make jokes about the 1MDB scandal with either a RM50,000 fine and/or jail time. No sense of humour?

But of course we all know that sticks and stones may break our bones but names will never hurt us, and if I am rubber and you are glue, what bounces off me sticks on you. That is assuming that the jokes are all baseless.

And it’s easy if it’s baseless. All the receiving party needs to do is to provide a valid argument that it isn’t true. Then the jokes will stop because, well, they would have been proven to be baseless.

Unless of course if the receiving party can’t provide any strong arguments as to why the jokes are baseless and so they resort to desperate measures – ie: threatening funny satirical jokes with jail!

That kind of reminds me of Athena when she was three years old. She really couldn’t handle people teasing her and making jokes that she resorted to getting angry and stomping her feet.

Anyway, Malaysians are a carefree and fun-loving lot (hmmm). We love making jokes to make light of the situation (we learned from the best – Datuk Lat!) and it’s all supposed to be in good fun.

But then there is also the saying that goes like this – “Siapa yang makan cili, dia yang rasa pedas.” And seeing that the 1MDB is getting worldwide attention, let me translate that – “He who eats chilli will feel hot.”

FAT BIDIN PODCASTS!

The Fat Bidin Film Club (Ep 19) - Michael Moore has a new film out? Really?

Zan and Aizyl is NOT reviewing Ant-Man! Instead, they are talking about Michael Moore and his documentary films. They are shocked to find out that he has a new film out called 'Where to Invade Next'. His last film was six years ago and nobody knew he was working on a new one.

A whole episode condemning the decision to suspend The Edge. Aiyo… who are the ones who should be investigated here?

ADVENTURES OF A KL-ITE IN AFGHANISTAN (A GRAPHIC NOVEL)

'Adventures of a KL-ite in Afghanistan' is one of the many retellings of Zan Azlee's travels in Afghanistan. He is a multimedia journalist who has been to many conflict zones including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Southern Thailand. Nevertheless, he still cowers like a coward when he hears gunfire!

Zan was keen to find out more about the war-torn country, and what it might be like to be there. Armed with only his camera gear and an open mind, he travels to Afghanistan with no idea what he is getting himself to. He ends up meeting many interesting figures, visits several 'tourist spots', and even gets embedded with the Malaysian army in Afghanistan.

Illustrated by Arif Rafhan Othman.

Visit http://fatbidin.com/afghanistan/ for more info. Or head on to http://fatbidin.com/store/ to purchase the book online.

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About

My name is Zan Azlee. I’m a MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER, WRITER and a NEW MEDIA CONTENT CONSULTANT. I'm a mass-comm LECTURER at several local universites. I run FAT BIDIN MEDIA. I'm currenly also SENIOR EDITOR for DIGITAL MEDIA at ASTRO AWANI.
*My views and opinions do not represent the views and opinions of the company/organisations I work or am attached with.